Sammy wants improvement as Windies chase sweep

West Indies' cricket player Fidel Edwards plays with a soccer ball during a practice session in Khulna, Bangladesh, yesterday. - AP

KHULNA, Bangladesh (CMC):

Despite their convincing victory in the opening Test on Saturday, West Indies captain Darren Sammy believes his side can still improve further, as they face Bangladesh in the second Test starting tomorrow (10:30 p.m. Jamaica time).

West Indies brushed aside Bangladesh by 77 runs at the Shere Bangla Stadium in Dhaka, but needed a strong bowling effort after they were led on first innings and then also batted poorly in their second turn at the crease.

Speaking ahead of the encounter at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium which is hosting its first-ever Test, Sammy said his batsmen were still struggling in the second innings and this was an area where they needed to step up.

"I would like us to improve our second-innings batting. This is something that has affected us in the past where we only bat well in one innings and don't back it up in the next," said Sammy.

"It was a much better effort in this Test, but it's still something we can improve. The guys who scored runs for us in previous Test series like Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels and myself, we didn't get much in the first Test, yet we still got a big total, so it's good contributions coming from different members of the team."

Excellent reply

In Dhaka, West Indies piled up 527 for four declared with veteran left-hander Shiv Chanderpaul getting an unbeaten double century, but Bangladesh produced an excellent reply to reach 556 all out.

The Windies were then bundled out for 273, leaving the hosts with 245 to get for victory.

"There's always room for improvement in any sport, but the players are in a really good frame of mind and we will be looking to come up with another performance that will win us this next Test," said the Windies skipper.

"Once we continue to work as hard as we have done over the last few years we should come out victorious."

Fast bowler Tino Best snatched five for 24 to cripple Bangladesh late on the final day.

Sammy hailed the Caribbean side's bowling effort and said tour management was now mulling over including an extra pacer for the second Test.

More bowling power

"We took 20 wickets. In order to win Test matches you have to take 20 wickets, you have to be able to bowl out the opposition twice," Sammy noted.

"I think it was a good decision to play the extra bowler in the first Test. Veerasammy Permaul created some important breakthroughs for us. Neither (Sunil) Narine nor I bowled as well as we could in the second innings. The way Tino Best bowled and the way they played him, we may be tempted to play Fidel Edwards, since he too is quite pacy."

Sammy added: "People may say the previous victory was only against Bangladesh, but we have lacked a winning attitude for too long. We won the two Tests and the previous series against New Zealand and now we have another chance to do the same thing here."